"Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald" in English. This account of a live radio drama gone awry has universal appeal, while also poking fun at contemporary Japanese culture. There are some wonderfully frantic comic scenes in it. Everything that can go wrong with a young writer's first drama script happens, which is how a love story about a Japanese girl saved by a fisherman turns into the tale of a Chicago trial lawyer rescued by an astronaut who's subsequently lost in space, etc. I give it eight ho's out of ten.

The film begins as a rehearsal is ending. A radio play is to be put on only hours later and everyone is congratulating a housewife for the script--which was a winning entry in a script-writing contest. From all appearances, the final live radio show should be a "cake walk". However, a monkey wrench is thrown into the equation when a very temperamental actress asks for "just a few small changes in the script". Unfortunately, the changes aren't small, as they have a major cascading impact on the script. Plus, the other voice actors are jealous and want changes to be made as well. Soon the original simple tale of a lady who works into a pachinko parlor in Japan is morphed into a tale involving a lawyer and her astronaut boyfriend that it set in gangster-infested Chicago!! And with each "little" change, the original script becomes less and less evident. Additionally, each change seems to set off a cascade of script revisions. Again and again, impossibilities become realities in this wacky script--such as scenes involving the mountains in Chicago (it's actually one of the flattest major cities on Earth) and a boyfriend who has just been named "Donald McDonald"--thanks to inspiration one voice actor who happens to be eating McDonald's food!!

The film starts off pretty slowly and is only mildly funny at first--you need to stick with it. Over time, it starts to take off and become seriously funny--mostly thanks to a great ensemble cast and writing that somehow makes the entire cast quite endearing. In particular, the minor supporting characters were great--I particularly loved the cowboy trucker. A truly original film that is sure to please anyone who has a sense of humor. Good stuff.